Redlands Conservancy helped save Marten Andersen house

The Marten Andersen house in its restored condition on North Orange Street. (Courtesy Photo)

The year 1888 was a banner year for Redlands and for the Marten Andersen house. Both had their beginnings that year.

Redlands pioneer and Norway native Marten Andersen built his tall Victorian house on Sixth Street and Sun Avenue, in the heart of the early developed Lugonia area. It was one of the early houses to receive city water hookup. Fine ornamentation, a brick cold-room and excellent hardwood floors characterized the big house.

It became home to numerous families over the years, to apartment dwellers as it was divided up and eventually to vagrants who broke into the empty house.

In 2006, the house, which had seen the magnificent Casa Loma Hotel come and go, sat empty and derelict on the back corner of the property owned by the Salvation Army. Hoping to relocate the house rather than demolish it, the Salvation Army sought a taker. According to Capt. Jack Brown of the Salvation Army, at that time, more than a dozen parties had wanted the house, but were deterred by the cost, or had no where to put it.

“We have to do something to save it,” said Redlands Conservancy board member Bettina McLeod. And so the Conservancy did.

In February of 2006, the house was relocated to its new home on North Orange Street, next to the Historical Glass Museum. Its new owner, the Historical Glass Museum Foundation, intended the house to become an exhibit hall for the museum.

As with five other “building saves,” the Redlands Conservancy had a hand in this project. The Conservancy advertised the house as available, worked with two other potential owners — neither of whom had a place to put the house — and finally worked with the Historical Glass Museum Foundation to get the job done.

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To help save the Marten Andersen house, the Conservancy provided the project management for the relocation process. This included handling the permitting process with the city, planning fund development, providing volunteer coordination and providing construction and move coordination.

According to the city’s Historic and Scenic Preservation Ordinance, buildings which had Historic Resource designation could be moved without any fees. So, the Conservancy went about preparing the nomination papers for the Marten Andersen house which became Redlands Historic Resource 105, making it only the second northside building at that time to receive a designation.

The Conservancy hired contractor Mark Sauer of Corona to prepare the building for the move, and hired Cen Cal Movers to do the job.

To launch the project, the Conservancy coordinated a special event at the Sixth Street site of the Marten Andersen house. Three generations of the Marten Andersen family came to the event, which featured Salvation Army Maj. Ed Loomis presenting the Historical Glass Museum Foundation a bill of sale in the amount of 50 cents, half the original price.

Larry Burgess explained the significance of the house and of Marten Andersen who invented an irrigation gate that made raising citrus far more predictable and profitable. Mayor Jon Harrison acknowledged the value of the project, which would positively impact the entire streetscape of North Orange Street.

The event included Trio Bella, a women’s trio, who sang “Put Me Off at Redlands” and “Radiant Redlands,” two century-old songs written to praise the glories of Redlands.

On Feb. 27, the building rolled off its foundation in one piece and, within three hours, was situated exactly on the engineer’s flags at its new home one-half mile away.

One more historic building was saved from demolition.

After making good progress on the house restoration, the Historical Glass Museum Foundation eventually decided to sell the house and lot rather than staff two separate structures for the foundation’s collection.

The building’s adaptive reuse to a viable commercial enterprise has not flowed smoothly, and it is yet again for sale.

Still, the lovely tall Victorian house, significant to the development of Redlands, graces the historic north side of Redlands, helping to create a distinctive streetscape.